Investment firm KKR is selling Minnesota Rubber and Plastics to Trelleborg Group for approximately $950 million.
MRP (incorporated under the name Quadion) has more than 1,450 employees, and all will receive cash payouts when the deal closes sometime before the end of the year.
“MRP shows the power of building an ownership culture, something we believe many more companies can replicate, and the potential of the shared ownership movement,” KKR Americas Private Equity co-head Pete Stavros said in a news release. “Trelleborg is a great cultural fit for MRP and the ideal strategic partner. As part of Trelleborg, MRP will continue to be an employee-centric organization with exciting opportunities for continued innovation and global growth.”
Plymouth, Minnesota-based MRP was founded in 1945 and now has eight manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Mexico, England, the Czech Republic and China. The company makes engineered elastomers and thermoplastics for the medical, water and industrial markets.
New York City-based KKR bought MRP from Minneapolis-based Norwest Equity Partners in November 2018. Since then, MRP introduced an employee ownership program and increased wages by more than 6% annually.
As part of the latest sale, MRP employees will receive cash payments of up to two years pay, plus pre-paid personal financial coaching and tax preparation services. The company’s newest employees will get payouts worth three months of pay, while employees who have been with MRP since its sale to KKR will get at least a year of extra pay, according to the Minneapolis StarTribune. Employees celebrated when they learned of the news this morning.
“I am proud to have worked alongside MRP colleagues who have contributed in so many ways to the company’s performance,” Josh Weisenbeck, the KKR partner who leads the industrials private equity team, said in the news release. “Together, we have been able to deliver the fantastic results that made this sale possible.”
MRP’s management team will continue to run the company under the new owners.
Trelleborg, which develops and manufactures polymers and had roughly $3 billion in 2021 revenue, said MRP’s annual revenue is close to $220 million.
MRP “is a very good fit with our own business within precision seals, and the transaction is expected to generate significant synergies in terms of lower costs and higher production efficiency.,” Trelleborg Group President and CEO Peter Nilsson said in a news release (PDF). “Minnesota Rubber & Plastics will gain access to Trelleborg’s global sales channels, and it will be able to offer our wider range of seals to its existing customer base in North America. All in all, this is expected to lead to extensive cross-selling opportunities.”
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions President Peter Hahn said MRP’s new Innovation Center “enables accelerated product development and strengthens us in R&D and areas such as healthcare & medical.”
MRP will offer Trelleborg’s wider range of seals to its North American customers, with Nilsson saying the deal will make the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions business as strong in North America as its well-established European operations.
Trelleborg already has a manufacturing plant in Delano, Minnesota, which was expanded in 2020.